The Southeast Pacific doesn't receive much precipitation. Drizzle tends to fall in the early morning and a lot of it evaporates before reaching the Earth's surface. Further off the coast of South America, the clouds tend to produce more drizzle. These clouds also contain areas of broken clouds called "pockets of open cells" (POCs).

Scientists participating in the VOCALS field campaign will be exploring the interactions between clouds, precipitation, the ocean, and the land in order to learn more about these processes. In particular, it seems that POCs and drizzle might play an important role in how clouds impact climate.

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